[D4, Early Evening] Singing Contest

[Reader]

Singing Contest
Both Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent are great patrons of the arts, both women are well aware of the potential for statues, song and stained glass to sway their subjects.

Nominally, both women have put aside political differences to host an evening of song, but the reality is likely to prove different. An artfully chosen song, remembered correctly and delivered well can deliver a point as well as any speech.

A game is made of events, with participants free to choose a song, but selected from particular genres or historic periods according to the capricious audience's whims.

Participants: anyone, no limits per house.

Challenge
Knowledge TN (9) to select a politically appropriate song. The audience participation element (constantly shifting periods and genres) means someone else can't make this roll beforehand for you.
Cunning (Memory) TN (9) to recall the song properly as you perform it.
Persuade (Charm) TN (12) - to sing in a moving fashion. If you've got qualities that you thnk should apply, please note them in your post and I'll rule on it. E.g. "
I have Mummer, I should have +3 to my roll"
. Charm is the default option, but I'm quite open to people using seduce or convince if roleplayed properly, and wackier options if you make a convincing case!

Failing either of the rest two rolls still lets you attempt the final roll - you just can't quite select something to make the sharp political point you want, or forget a crucial verse etc.

Passing the Knowledge roll = +1B to Persuade roll, +1D if 2 DoS or better.
Passing the Cunning roll = +1B to Persuade roll, +1D if 2 DoS or better.

Consequences
Highest Persuade (Charm) roll +1 glory (whether or not all three tests passed)
Pass all three tests: +1 glory
Highest Persuade (Charm) score among those who passed all three rolls - +1 to black or green. [Anyone who fails either of the first two rolls can elect to sing an overt song in praise of Rhaenyra or Alicent and therefore still be counted in this category. This will be a VERY public show of support - it will bolster the morale of that side's followers if you sing well or win, but will possibly annoy both sides due to your lack of subtlety]

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyneth goes to the minstrels to quickly go over the timing of when the instruments will come in...the first part of the song she has in mind is a capella. Then she makes her way over to the center of the great hall. Though she handles it well, her heart is beating fast, and she clasps her hands together to keep them from shaking. It wasn't that she had stagefright exactly...she was just very conscious about how an error here could cost her.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained. And she did like to sing.

The song she'd selected was one that dated back, so it was said, to the Long Night. It was a lullaby, to calm children and adults alike. It felt appropriate to her now, with the unrest between Blackwoods and Freys, with the pall cast over the tourney by the killing and the trial that followed it, and with the fainter but larger shadow of the looming 'Blacks and Greens' conflict like a distant storm on the horizon. Uneasy times, but they could be endured.

A great many things Gwyn did passed through the filters and editors in her own mind, weighing and judging, yaying and naying before they ever saw expression in word or deed. The song was not one of them. From the moment she opened her mouth, her desire that it be true was evident. Her voice was high and clear, and she captured both the melancholy of it, and the reckless, empowering hope of it. The music started on cue, quietly at first, but building to the end, where the song assured the listeners that the better future would come not from passively waiting, but from the taking of action, and the decision to stand and make it happen.

Shadows fall and hope has fled,
Steel your heart
The dawn will come.

The night is long,
and the path is dark.
Look to the sky...
For one day soon the dawn will come.

The shepherd's lost
and his home is far.
Keep to the stars,
the dawn will come.

The night is long,
and the path is dark.
Look to the sky...
For one day soon the dawn will come.

Bare your blade
and raise it high.
Stand your ground,
the dawn will come.

The night is long,
and the path is dark.
Look to the sky...
For one day soon the dawn will come.

[url=Knowledge to select song][/url]: 3d6 13
[url=Cunning to remember song][/url]: 3d6 13
[url=Persuasion (Charm) to siiiiiing][/url]: 8d6k4 23

(Note - I recall a rule about spending a destiny point to turn a bonus dice into a test dice? Can I do that after I roll? If so, I'd like to do that, which would raise my total to 27.)

(Musical reference, so y'all know the tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffb3QiOGDeI )
(Clearly, it's just one person singing it here though. )

Edmund calmly walks forward and begins to sing the song, the Dreamer of Valyria. He would like the first face that Princess Rhaenyra and Quenn Alicent see of his to be one of seeming neutrality and one of unity. In fact, he doesn't particularly want to win this contest. He is mainly looking at it as a vehicle to introduce himself as a representative for House Lyras.

The song, sung unaccompanied, revolves around the time before the Doom. Daenys the Dreamer, the maiden daughter of Lord Aenar Targaryen, had a powerful and prophetic dream with visions that Valyria would be destroyed. She was able to convince her father to leave Valyria before the calamity, as her terrified truth showed through every pore of her being. And so, Aenar set sail, moving his entire family and their five dragons to the island Dragonstone. This

The song is meant to remind the Targaryen's of the necessity of trust and faith in their family in a complex and sometimes unpredictable world. Their families deliverance came through unexpected wisdom and would lead to the establishment of the greatest dynasty in the history of Westeros.



[url=Knowledge to select song][/url]: 3d6 10
[url=Cunning to remember song][/url]: 3d6 10
[url=Singing with some feeling][/url]: 5d6k4 15

+1 Glory

Shoot! Didn't see the bonus provided I passed the first two test, can I re-roll?

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

(They're bonus dice...you could just roll them, and substitute them in, if they're higher than what you already rolled)

[Reader]

[OOC: that's the best solution - roll 2d6 and manually add them if better than your existing dice. Sing Edmund, sing!]

[url=rolling bonus][/url]: 2d6 4

Shit, hell, damn. I knew I jinxed myself with that.

Brings my persuade roll to a massive 16.

[Theomore Tullison]

Singing in and of itself had never been Theomore's forte, he was capable enough for certain, and most importantly, he knows the songs which suits his voice. And one of them does indeed fit his deep pitch, a tale of Nymeria, the queen of the Rhoynar as she lead her people to the summer islands. A sad tale of hardship, but a tribute to a strong queen nonetheless. In the eyes of some, the choice of song may be construed as an argument for that women may just as well be as strong leaders as men.

[url=singing knowledge][/url]: 3d6 15 2 DoS
[url=singing cunning][/url]: 3d6 10 1 DoS
[url=singing persuasion][/url]: 7d6k5 [url=BoA-reroll][/url]: 1d624 3 DoS
+1 glory

[Benedict Marsten]

Ellie is lost as to the political under tone of singing a proper song here, not that she cares. She had spent the morning working on memorizing the words. It paid off they all came to her. Her rendition is well done. As she ends the song, 'My Lady Wife', she looks for Corrine. Hoping it pleases her to finally hear the words.

[url=Knowledge TN9 Singing][/url]: 3d6 7
[url=Cunning TN 9][/url]: 4d6 11
[url=Persuade TN 12][/url]: 7d6k4 18

+1 glory [Reader: sorry, you missed the first roll, need to pass all three for glory]

[Yoren longshore]

Knowing that the chance of his brother to participate was slim to none Yoren entered himself into the singing competition. His song was one he had heard in the free cities and found beautiful. Yoren, however had never been one for singing, and did his song little justice, however crude his performance was, at least no one disrupted his performance, so as he got of the stage he thought that it could not have been that bad. Or maybe the people just did not know how good that song really should be...

[url=knowing to sing][/url]: 3d6 9
[url=remember to sing][/url]: 3d6 10
[url=actually singing][/url]: 5d6k3 14

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine is nervous as she stands to sing. She has never sung in front of so many people. It was all the more frightening because she had only managed to decide at short notice which song to sing. After Athelstan's defeat, and the harrowing experience in the Godswood, she had eliminated the possibility of singing Song To The Siren or The Drowned Lover. She did not want to be too overtly political in her choice, nor did she want to be too simple, so she wracked her brains for something that was ostensibly straightforward and beautiful, but that some would find a subtle hint within if they sought one. Nevertheless, she takes a deep breath and begins to intone the melody of Farewell Sorrow, a song often sung in mourning, and which she first heard following her father &
brother's deaths. It tells the tale of a human spirit, about to depart this world, but showing no fear of death, as it is only another part of life, and they will soon join their kin in the Heavens, where they will all be free and united.

It is a song about fearlessness in the face of death, family, and the peace of Heaven, but those with philosophical minds might say how Death is associated with the colour black, and that the spirit in the song welcomes Death, and possibly the song could be interpreted as a rousing call to 'Heaven' (an analogy for the service of the Black Princess). Others, however, would scoff at such a notion as tenuous, at best.

Corrine almost loses her place in the second verse, but stays on track, passing off a marginally too-long breath as a poignant pause. Her soulful, innocent, yet haunting voice carries through the room in a sweet, graceful lilt that stirs deep and bittersweet emotions in many that listen.

[url=Knowledge - Education][/url]: 4d6k3 16
[url=Cunning][/url]: 2d6k2 10
[url=Persuasion - Charm][/url]: 8d6k5 24

[url=https:
//www.
youtube.
com/watch?v=BAwrFui2Muc:1tiy706j]Farewell Sorrow[/url:1tiy706j]

Raise me high, raise me high,
That I may see my fallen kindred seated.
Who met with death upon the battlefield,
Who, in the end, fell and were defeated.

And the way they were tricked by death,
Betrayed, betrayed, leveled and mistreated.
I've stuck a knife in a man for less,
But Death is not so easily defeated.

And you can pray, pray and pray for Life.
But know my friend, my dearest friend, please know this,
That Life is but Death's own right-hand man.
In every piece of his own left-hand business.

So, arm in arm, we'll run toward that pair
And, we as they, join them double-threaded
And, arms flung wide, we'll run towards that pair
And never fear that which once we dreaded.

[Nathaniel Mason]

Nathan had been preparing for this. He had chosen a song that did not favour either faction, but one of good and measured leadership. It obviously alluded to King Viserys I Targaryen;
a subject that both sides could agree on. While some played for politics and only half their audience, Nathan sought to draw his entire audience in. His seductive voice brought hope;
and wasn't hope the most seductive of all the emotions.

[url=Singing Contest (Knowledge)][/url]: 3d6+3 10
[url=Singing Contest (Cunning)][/url]: 4d6+3 16
[url=Singing Contest (Persuasion)][/url]: 7d6k5+3 [url=BoA][/url] 25
[url=DP Bonus Die][/url]: 1d6 2
[url=DP Bonus Die][/url]: 1d6 5

[Nathan's Persuasion roll does not count toward +1 Green/Black Faction]
[+1 Glory]

[Jon Cobb]

Ser Jon stands and waits for the audience to quiet, before he begins to sing in a surprisingly pleasant baritone. Fired up by the scandals caused by the visiting ironborn, the audience has called for a song from the time of the Iron Islanders' conquest of the Riverlands. Jon knows exactly what to sing then - it's a simple enough song, popular among warriors in all the lands that have felt the bite of the ironmen's axes. It will please neither Queen nor Princess especially, but Jon doesn't care - he has had his fill of politics for the day.

It's a song that Jon has sung many times before, and his delivery is almost perfect. The audience roars its approval as he finishes - all except the handful of ironborn attending, that is...

I see a dark sail on the horizon
set under a black cloud that hides the sun.
Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my star of gold as a talisman.
Get up to the roundhouse on the cliff-top standing.
Take women and children and bed them down.

Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my star of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me.
Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Raise our shields 'gainst the west wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for our fathers' lands.

I see a dark sail on the horizon
set under a black cloud that hides the sun.
So, bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my star of gold as a talisman.
So bring me my broadsword
And a star of gold as a talisman.

[url=Knowledge][/url]: 2d6 6 No bonus to Persuasion roll
[url=Cunning (Memory)][/url]: 5d6 18 2 DoS, +1D to Persuasion roll
[url=Persuasion (Charm)][/url]: 6d6 24 3 DoS

(OOC: The song is, of course, a very slightly reworked version of Broadsword by Jethro Tull).

[Dunstan Tullison]

[url=Knowledge][/url]: 3d6 12 (+1B for Persuasion)

[url=Cunning][/url]: 2d6 8 (dammit so close!)

[url=Persuasion (Charm) (with 1B from Knowledge)][/url]: 4d6k3 9

Dunstan did not have a great voice but his cheerful persona did make for an interesting act in the past. Aha, he thinks as he remmembers the song from his youth, the prince will like this!


On wings of thunder
Honor bound
Search me out, I drum the sound
Twist and turn in the black of night
Dragon come, my guiding light.
Protector, guardian, friend not foe
Come to me, see my sigil glow.
Strong and true this friendship charm
I beckon thee, keep me from harm.
Around and about your magick swirls
Come to me
Your wings unfurled

As it happens one chunk of apple he was munching on earlier got stuck to his throat just between the second and third verse and it ruined the experience since he coughed and stopped singing for a bit. He had a splendid time however.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(OOC: Can't come up with lyrics, so I'm just going to be lazy. Sorry.)

Daveth chooses a mellow, optimistic song, improvised somewhat from the original to be about throwing off curses lingering from the past and making a better future. Overtly, it's implying references to the infamous 'curse' of Castle Grenward, and how if it ever really existed, it's gone now. But it's worded vaguely enough that those looking for such things can spot a subtext of 'throwing off the shackles of the past (i.e. traditions) that are unhelpful to form a better future'.

(OOC: I don't suppose 'Education' is a valid option for a bonus die in the first roll, is it?)

[url=Singing knowledge (9)][/url]: 4d6 17
...never mind, then. 2 DoS. +1D

[url=Singing - Cunning to remember words][/url]: 4d6 22
3 DoS. +1D

[url=Singing (12)][/url]: 6d6 23
(+1 Glory for passing all three tests. I'll take that as a definite win.)

[Athelstan]

[ooc]Better participate just to see if I can get something[/ooc]

Athelstan prepares his song picking the least rowdy he can remember, and with a subtle hint, clapping his hands stomping the floor with some rhythm as the ironborn and those who have sail will begin to recognize the song.

When up the shrouds the sailor goes
And ventures on the yard
The landsman who no better know
Believe his lot is hard
Bold Jack with smiles each danger meets
Weighs anchor heaves the log
Trims all the sails belays his sheets
And drinks his can of grog

If to engage they give the word
To quarters he'll repair
Now winding in the dismal flood
Now quivering in the air
When waves 'gainst rocks to rend and roar
You'll n'er hear him repine
Though he's on Greenland's icy shore
Or burning beneath the line

When sailing orders to arrive
Bold Jack he takes his leave
My dear sweetest Polly he cries
I pray now do not grieve
Thy Jack will take his daily can
Of grog and drink to thee
In hopes that thou will n'er forget
Thy sailor who's at sea

But should thou false or fickle prove
To Jack who loves thee dear
No more upon my native shore
Can I with joy appear
But restless as the briny main
Must heartless heave the log
Shall trim the sails and try to drown
My sorrow in cans of grog

[url=knowledge][/url]: 2d6k2 10
[url=Cunning][/url]: 3d6k3 13
[url=Persuasion][/url]: 3d6k3 14

[Loreia]

*I threw this together modified and revised from the lyrics of "
Don't Carry It All"
by the Decemberists. Tried to shorten each verse a little and replaced the chorus witha more 'repeat' quality to it.*

After consistent prodding and after several call out her name out as if announced to go after the previous contestant, Loreia concedes to the pestering and teasing of the guards she is seated with, and proceeds to the 'center' for the contest to sing a song native to Bear Island, yet dressed in armor and wearing the Coldbrook sigil. She begins hesitantly, but soon starts belting it out to get it over with. A few guards have the kindness to join in for the chorus.

See the turning of the season,
The arcing towards the sun,
Our neighbors' bless'd burdens within reason
Becoming borne of all and one,

Let the yoke fall from our shoulders,
Don't carry it all, don't carry it all,
We are all our hands and holders,
And this I swear, this I swear to all,

Build tribute 'neath the arbors,
on a plinth towerin' o'er the sea,
Ev'ry vessel pitchin' hard to starboard,
Make port on summer's freckled knees,

Let the yoke fall from our shoulders,
Don't carry it all, don't carry it all,
We are all our hands and holders,
And this I swear to all, this I swear to all,

There a wreath of lily and ivy,
Laid on the body of a boy,
Lazily, the loam come from hiding,
Return quiet searchers to soil,

Toast the turnings of the season,
An' see your health arcing to the sun,
Bear our neighbors' burdens within reason,
Your labors will be borne when all is done,

Let the yoke fall from our shoulders,
Don't carry it all, don't carry it all,
We are all our hands and holders,
And this I swear to all

[url=singing, Knowledge][/url]: 2d6 4
[url=singing, Cunning][/url]: 2d6 8
[url=singing, Persuasion][/url]: 2d6 9

People in the audience are moved to laughter at how obvious it is she's unprepared and unrehearsed, coupled with the fact that she's not used to singing for a crowd, or singing. The song originated from Bear Island, but it's the best appropriate for the situation she knows of, most notably because the realm is seeing its first days of the new spring, even if she's aware it's not very popular for whatever reason(boring, ridiculed?). What keeps her going through it all is a squire or a guard who call out lines to keep her going. Thankfully, the moments when she blanks or draws out a note don't last painfully more than they should.

Soon as she's done, she hurries away back to her seat, where she punches one of the guards in the shoulder, and not so playfully. Moments later, she's having a little laugh at herself too.

[Ser Fendrel Bartheld]

[RP to be added later.]

[url=Knowledge][/url]: 2d6 5

[url=Cunning][/url]: 3d6 14 need to re-roll 2 6's

[url=Cunning (re-roll)][/url]: 2d6 7 Total roll is: 9. 1 DoS

[url=Persuasion (Charm)][/url]: 7d6k4+2 19 2 DoS.

[Kevan Lyras]

Kevan had chosen a simple song, often in inns and taverns, less so among nobles. He is not a very skilled singer and his nervousness is plain to see for everybody.

What did I get myself into here.... concentrate, you know all the words, don't panic...

The song tells the misadventures of a local merchant from Gulltown, who gets himself caught in various hilarious situations due to his naivety. It is a comical tune, but also carries a subtle political weight, given the current sutation, as it is the merchant's daughter that saves him from the worst distress, with courage and wits...

The performance goes reasonably well, at least until the last verse that is, when Kevan suddenly forgets the lyrics he has heard so many times before. After a short interruption, he manages to finish his song and after a short bow toward the audience, he leaves the stage.


Rolls
[url=Knowledge (SC)][/url]: 2d6 12
[url=Cunning (SC)][/url]: 3d6 7
[url=Singing][/url]: 5d6k4 14
[url=BoTA reroll][/url]: 1d6 5 -->
Total=17

[Reader]

[OOC - I really enjoyed this, many of you went above and beyond here. Rumours feedback to come later.

Gwyn +2 glory
Edmund +1 glory
Theomore +1 Glory
Ben/Ellie [that's not good enough to get glory, contrary to your post, sorry. You need to pass all three rolls]
Yoren +1 glory
Corrine +1 glory
Nathaniel +1 glory - a high scoring plea for peace doesn't go unnoticed either.
Daveth +1 glory
Athelstan +1 glory

As ever, please note this in your private forum with a link

+1 to Black score]

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